Fan



Ap .942. M. w. HUMPHREYS FAN Filed Nov. 16, 1958 q 4 INVENTOR. Vl HUMPHREY-S ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 21, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FAN Marion W. Humphreys, Mansfield, Ohio Application November 16, 1938, Serial No. 240,802

4 Claims.

This invention relates to fans and particularly electric fans forhousehold, ofllce, automobile and analogous uses.

Among the objects of the invention are, first, to reduce the assembly expense and therefore the cost of the completed fan; second, to provide greater flexibility for variously positioning the motor and fan'to vary the direction in which the air currents are propelled and to accomplish this with a construction which is more pleasing in appearance than is the case with the adjustable fans in use at the-present time; third, to minimize the transmission of mechanical and sound vibrations from the motor and fan proper to the part on which the fan is mounted or secured; fourth, to reduce the likelihood of marring a support such as a table and also the likelihood of marring the fan itself should it be tipped over; fifth, to eliminate the necessity of painting or enameling and thus reduce the expense of the finished fan; sixth, to provide greater facility for carrying the current conductors to and from the motor without the cord being visible at any point between the fan base and the motor; and, seventh, to provde a more satisfactory rubber or flexible blade unit wherein the several blades and a suitably shaped blade the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of. drawing, showing two slightly diflerent embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a household or office type of fan embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end view looking toward the blade unit of Fig, 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the invention embodied in a so-called defroster fan adapted to be mounted on the steering post of an automobile; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view through the lower part of the fan and showing a slight modification.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it is an important feature of the construction here illustrated that the base I0, the standard II and the housing I! for the motor are formed of semi-soft, flexible insulating material such as rubber and are preferably molded in one piece from rubber or equivalent plastic which, when cured, has the desired semi-soft flexible insulating characteristics with many advantages referred to herein. This part of the fan and also the blade unit to be referred to presently can be readily molded from rubber or rubber-like material such as artiflcial rubber, with the rubber pigmented in a manner such that the article will have the necessary artistic and pleasing appearance, thus doing away with the necessity of painting or enameling.

The lower side of the base ll may have integral feet or lugs Illa formed thereon so as to space the base proper from the table and provide room beneath it for the cord enclosing the current-carrying conductors for the motor. The motor-enclosing housing I! and the associated carrier for the blades of the fan unit are hollow and preferably, though not necessarily, oval shaped, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l. The housing I! is spaced slightly from the blade carrier of the fan unit and is annular in cross section with an end portion in this instance projectile-shaped to correspond with the similar shape of the blade carrier of the fan unit. If desired, the housing may have openings Ila formed therein to provide for ventilation of the motor.

The motor i3 is small and compact and is preferably of the squirrel cage induction type. For the smaller fans a two-pole motor is sufflcient and for the large fans the motor may have four or more poles. The details of the motor are not material to the present invention as induction motors of the squirrel cage type used for this purpose are well known. For the sake of clearness the field winding of the stator is not illustrated. This motor I! includes a laminated stator core I30 and a laminated rotor core llb, the latter being mounted on a shaft llc rotatably supported in bearing brackets lid, the outer ends of which may be secured by rivets or otherwise to the stator core "a.

It is an important feature of the present invention that the motor does not include a metal housing employed almost universalw in motor fans, but is mounted and frictlonally held in the rubber or other molded housing I2 between a pair of inwardly projecting flanges lib, molded intcgrally with and projecting inwardly from the elastic material and includes a plurality of radially projecting blades I la which are preferably cup-shaped and at their inner ends are formed integral with the blade carrier Nb, which, like the housing II, is hollow and in this instance is tapered r projectile-shaped. To further minimize the assembly expense, in accordance with I the present invention, the open end of the blade carrier Ilb is stretched over and snapped onto and is then lrictionally held to the peripheral portion of a rotating element in the form of a disc I! which is secured to one end of the shaft Ilc which projects from the open end of the housing I2 into the adjacent open end of the blade carrier Mb. In this instance, the disc I5 has a laterally and inwardly projecting flange Iib and one side of the disc bears against a shoulder Ilc formed integral with the inner wall of the blade carrier Ilb while at the open end of the carrier Ilb, next to the end of the motor housing I2, there is a thickened portion Md formed on the inner wall of the blade carrier Ilb, this portion being grooved to provide a flange which overlaps the inner periphery of the angularly disposed flange I5b of the disc i5, thus insuring against spreading and dislodgment of the blade carrier Ilb under the action of centrifugal force.

In accordance with the present invention means is provided for affording maximum adjustability of the motor and fan end of the device to vary the direction in which the air currents are propolled, without requiringuse oi swivel or uni versal joint commonly employed in fan tures at the present time. This maximum and in fact universal adjustability is accomplished by reason of the flexibility of th standard II and further by molding into the standard a hollow flexible tube I6, this tube, while flexible, having sufllcient stiffness to hold the standard I I in any position to which it may be bent. The tube I6 is preferably formed of spirally wound metal strip and is of the form commonly employed as a flexible drive shaft. This hollow flexible tube I6, which extends from substantially the lower side of the base III to substantially the housing I2 provides a convenient and satisfactory means for carrying the cord Ilwhich encloses the cur- .rent carrying conductors for the motor 55 from the lower side of the base through the standard II for its full length and to the cavity within the housing I2. Thus the cord is not exposed at any point, which I believe is not the case with electric fans having metal standards equipped with swivel or universal joints to afford adjustability.

If desired, a plate lob may be embedded in the base I 8 while the base-standard-housing unit is being molded and if so the lower end of the flexible tube I6 may be suitably fastened to the plate as by a force fit between the plate and lower end of the tube or otherwise. In this instance the a lower end of the tube has a nipple fitted into and extending through an opening in the plate Nib.

It will be seen from th construction described above that the objects or advantages stated in the early part of the specification. are attained to a high degree. These need not be here repeated or enlarged upon except that it might be pointed out that in the entire device, from its lower end to its upper end, there are no exposed metal parts. so that there is no likelihood of damage either to the fan or to the support upon which the fan is mounted, should the fan be tipped over. Furthermore, the lack of a metal supporting connection between the motor and the base not only reduces the transmission of mechanical vibrations to the table or other support but the molded unit including the base, standard and housing (which latter receives andv encloses the motor) acts also as a noise insulator so that the fan is quieter than those of common construction, and, of course, affords protection as an electrical insulator. In this connection it might be stated that the insulating properties of the molded unit against the transmission of mechanical vibrations and sound vibrations are not adversely affected by the use of the inner embedded iiexible tube IS.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 4 is simllar in all respects to the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 except that, instead of the base the flexible standard which is here designated Ma and which corresponds to the standard II of Fig. 1 has at its lower end a two-part clamp I8, composed of a part IBa formed integral with the standard and an independently formed part I8b, which, in this instance, is adapted to be secured by clamping bolts I80 around a suitable supporting element, such as the stearing post of an automobile as when the fan is used for the purpose of directing air currents onto the windshield to keep it clear of fog and the like, fans of this kind being commonly called defrosting fans. two clamping parts or elements I8a and 58 are preferably of semi-soft rubber with metal reenforcing plates I8d embedded therein, as shown at the lower end of Fig. 4. It will be understood that the flexible standard Ila, the motor housing corresponding to the housing I2 oi Fig. l, and the clamping part or element I8a (with its metal reenforcement I8d) will, as in the first instance, be molded in one unit from semisoft rubber or equivalent material. It will be understood that there is embedded in the standard Ha a flexible tube I6 similar in construction and purposes to the tube It of the first described construction. Likewise, it will beunderstood that the motor is applied and supported and the blade unit is constructed and applied as in the first instance. To provide space for leading the current-supplying conductors into the tube It from the inner side of clamping element IBa, the inner central part of the clamping element opposite the lower end of the tube I6 is preferably offset upward slightly as indicated at I8e.

Although I have not shown a switch in the drawing, it will be understood of course that a suitable switch may be provided in the motor circuit for controlling the operation of the fan.

I have stated above that the housing, the standard, and the base are preferably molded in one piece, and that construction has been illustrated. However, the one-piece construction might require a rather expensive mold and, if so, they may be molded in two parts. In the latter case I prefer that the housing and the standard be molded in one piece and that the base be separately molded and attached to the lower end of the standard. One way in which this may be done is illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein the standard is designated He and the base I00. To conveniently fasten the parts together there is moldedintothelowerendofthestandarda metal plate lid and on the lower side of the base c a metal plate ild, which plates are designed to be secured together by screws It. In this instance the lower end of the hollow flexible tube It is fastened to the plate lid, and provision will bemadeinthebase llcandtheplate lldfor passing the conductors up from the lower side ofthebaseintothetubell.

Certain features disclosed but not claimed herein are dlsclosed'and claimed in a companion application Serial No. 320,766, flied February 26, 1940.

While I have shown the preferred embodiments and described the preferred materials, I do not desire to be confined to the precise construction and materials described but aim in my claims'to cover all modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and scope of pered rounded thin walled body open at the back thereof and having an engagingportion on said open back for frictional engagement with the periphery only of said disc-like element for clamping the fan blade unit for rotation with the disc-like element.

'3. An impeller for a fan or the like, comprising a disk-like member having means adjacent the center thereof for mounting the same on a shaft and also having an angularly disposed circumferential flange, a plurality of blades, and a carrier for the blades comprising a tapered rounded thin walled body molded from vflexible material with an open back adapted to be flexed over .said disk-like member for mounting the carrier thereon, said carrier having a continuous circumferential groove thereon arranged to receive the flange of said disk-like member.

4. An impeller for a fan or the like, comprising a disk-like member having means adjacent the center thereof for mounting the same on a shaft and also having an angularly disposed circumferential flange, a plurality of blades, and a carrier for the blades comprising a tapered rounded thin walled body molded from flexible material with an open back adapted to be flexed over said disk-like member for mounting the carrier thereon. said carrier having a continuous circumferential groove thereon arranged to receive the flange of said disk-like member and a shoulder enzageable with a face of the disk-like member for retaining the flange in said groove.

MARION W. HUMIPHREYB. 

